Local Elementary Students Raise Funds for Cardiovascular Research
Hundreds of jump ropes hit the pavement on a chilly Tuesday morning, February 19, at Palisades Charter Elementary School as students jumped, hopped and double-dutched during the annual Jump Rope for Heart Event, when kids get active to help raise funds for lifesaving cardiovascular research.
The event is part of the Kids Heart Challenge, a nationwide initiative run by the American Heart Association (AHA), encouraging students to learn about their hearts while using them during fun jump rope-themed exercise. Students learn new jump rope techniques while also learning how the human heart works.
The school has been participating in the event since 2005. This year, the school raised $9,000 through donations helping kids with hearts that need special attention, like 10-year-old California Naya Barnes, born with a congenital heart defect, who told the AHA that even though surgeries “have been hard,” she “stays positive knowing they make her heart work better.”
The American Heart Association also partners with other local schools, including Canyon Charter Elementary School, Marquez Charter Elementary School and Corpus Christi School.
This year’s first place winner was fifth-grader Sammy Dunn, who said at the event he was “happy” to have won and to have been able to “help other kids.”
“We had over 500 kids jumping rope, so it was a real spectacle,” Palisades Charter Elementary Principal Gary Saunders told the Palisadian-Post. “It was a lot of fun and for a good cause.”
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